GAME ONE BOX SCORE | GAME TWO BOX SCORE

When and Where: April 30, 2017 – Waltham, Mass. (Bentley Softball Field)
Game One Score: Bentley University 1, Southern New Hampshire University 0
Game Two Score: Southern New Hampshire University 8, Bentley University 4
Records: SNHU 25-19 (11-9 Northeast-10 Northeast Division), Bentley 12-24 (5-15 Northeast-10 Northeast Division)

Sophomore Erin Garczynski (Norwood, Mass.) finished 3-for-4 with four RBI in game two Sunday to lead the Southern New Hampshire University softball team to an 8-4 win over Bentley University, and clinch a berth in the 2017 Northeast-10 Conference Championship. The Penmen split their doubleheader with the Falcons on the final day of the regular season, as the hosts took game one, 1-0.

After dropping the opener, Southern New Hampshire was put into a must-win situation to advance to the postseason and it responded with six runs in the first two innings. Junior Brittany Perdigao (Stoughton, Mass.) started the contest with a base hit and swiped second before coming around to score two batters later on an RBI single by Garczynski.

Senior Devan Rabidou (Ashland, Mass.) led off the second with a triple down the line in right, and after a walk to senior Erin Morrissey (Commack, N.Y.), a fielder's choice off the bat of freshman Erin Tyrell (Milford, N.H.) drove in the second run of the game. Perdigao followed with an infield single to load the bases before junior Katie Horiuchi (Livingston, N.J.) worked a walk to push across Morrissey. Garczynski stepped in next and drilled a two-run single to right to extend the Penmen lead to 5-0, and junior Sarah Lavallee (Candia, N.H.) capped the inning's scoring with a base knock to center that plated Horiuchi.

Bentley responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on RBI singles from Juliana Romeo and Katelyn Lebreux, but Southern New Hampshire reestablished a six-run cushion with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In similar fashion to the first, Perdigao led off with a walk and after stealing second, Garczynski drove her in with a single back through the box to make it 7-2. Perdigao was again the catalyst in the fifth, as she reached on a fielder's choice before stealing her third bag of the day. Horiuchi followed with a base hit to right that scored Perdigao and extended the lead to 8-2.

The score remained unchanged until the home half of the seventh when the Falcons attempted to mount a late comeback. Bentley started the frame with a triple and an infield single to trim its deficit to five, and a mishandled ball off the bat of the ensuing batter left runners on the corners with nobody out. Lavallee entered the game and fanned the first hitter she faced before closing the game out with a double play to earn the save.

Perdigao finished 2-for-4 at the plate and scored four runs, while Lavallee added two hits in four trips to the plate. Freshman Maddy Barone (Halifax, Mass.) worked the first six-plus innings of Sunday's finale, and earned the victory after scattering 10 hits and allowing four runs, two of which were earned, with four strikeouts. Barone was saddled with the loss in the opener, after allowing an unearned run on eight hits with seven strikeouts. 

Notes:
- Southern New Hampshire makes its seventh consecutive appearance in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship.
- Bentley outhit the Penmen, 18-15, over the course of the two-game set. Southern New Hampshire rapped out 11 hits in game two after collecting four in the opener, while the Falcons had eight hits in game one and 10 hits in the finale.

What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire, the No. 4 seed in the Northeast Division, will travel to third-seeded Assumption College on Tuesday (May 2) for a 3 p.m. first pitch against the Greyhounds.

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